The present invention relates generally to animal husbandry and, more particularly, to apparatus for controlling delivery of feed to equine feeding receptacles.
The problems relating to animal feeding, especially in the case of horses, are well known. For example, several reasons exist for not feeding a horse from the ground. These include the economic where loss or contamination of feed occurs when the feed is exposed to the environment. In addition, such feeding can result in disease transmission to the animal and, in some cases, loss of the animal because of parasitic infection or colic.
Conventional feeding systems useful for other animals do not work well with horses. For example, covered feed troughs that can efficiently service hogs have little value in feeding horses. Open, communal troughs also fail because of resistance of the horse to feed in proximity to other animals.
Further, conventional feeders lack means for regulating the amount of feed available to the horse and, in addition, lack means for regulating the times of feeding.
In addition, horses are especially sensitive to sudden or unusual sounds and these can seriously disturb the animal. In some cases, prior art feeders are noisy in operation and disconcerting to the horse. Use of such feeders can result in inadequate feeding and ultimately, threats to the health of the horse.
From the foregoing it is apparent that a need exists for a horse feeding apparatus that avoids the problems relating to feeding from the ground and is efficient in operation. Desirably, such an apparatus would be capable of automatically delivering feed, such as hay flakes, at predetermined times in a quiet manner so as not to disturb the horse. In a preferred embodiment, the horse feeding apparatus would be constructed of readily available material and would be designed to afford the horse easy access to the feed.